Bengaluru, 01 September: The Honorary Consulate of Cambodia in Bengaluru took a delegation of 55 Indian Women entrepreneurs from India to Siem Reap, Cambodia from 26-29 August 2023 and in Angkor Miracle Resort & Spa.
The representation of women was from across the country- Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mysore, Gulbarga, Bidar, Mumbai, Chennai, and Coimbatore.
Representing several organizations: These women represented several organizations- Ubuntu Consortium, ABWCI, CREDAI Chennai, Women’s Wing of Visakhapatnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry(VICCI), eMerge, Kalaburagi Ladies Association Manufacturers Park, ISBR, Rakshak Foundation, Indian Institutional Women League(IWIL), WISE Mysore, ALEAP, Flour Mills Association; and several companies like Nectar fresh and Naman, UnFold Consulting, Crius Life Sciences Pvt Ltd., Padmasri hospitals, Mili Consultants & Investment Pvt Ltd.
Organic farming, retailing: The sectors that they belonged to included Organic farming and retailing, Manufacturing, Waste management, facility management, Skill Development, Handicraft products, Cyber Security, Apparels, Jute products, Human resources, Education sector, Automotive, NGO.
Floating villages: Under the leadership of the Honorary Consul Karthik Tallam, the delegation attempted to attain two objectives- Business and Travel. Day 1- 27 August 2023 The delegation visited the Floating Villages and learnt about the infrastructure on water and the beautiful Cambodian and Vietnamese villages.
InCham President?s keynote address: The first evening focused on networking with the other Indian women delegates who had met each other for the first time. Through a 45 sec pitch given to all women, they introduced themselves and shared about their work. This helped a lot of women from India to connect with each other. The keynote address was given by Sandeep Majumdar, President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (InCham).
Angkor Wat temple: Day 2- 28 August; The day began with a visit to the Angkor Wat temple for viewing the sunrise. The women delegates were delighted to see the temple standing tall with vivid stories of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Buddhism shared by the guide through the remains in the Angkor Wat.
Buyer-Seller meet: The afternoon began with Buyer-Seller meet and B2B meetings with entrepreneurs from Cambodia. These entrepreneurs represented different Chambers of Commerce including Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) of Siem Reap, Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association (CWEA) Siem Reap Chapter, Young Entrepreneurs Association of Cambodia (YEAC), Junior Chamber International Cambodia (JCI Cambodia), FASMEC representing the SME sector.
Agro-processing, Garments: These entrepreneurs belonged to several sectors like Agro-processing, Garments, Automotive, Security and Safety Technologies, Pharmaceuticals, Hotel and Travel Industry. Several Indian companies displayed their products during the Buyer-Seller meet and the Cambodian entrepreneurs enjoyed the food that was prepared and the art and Indian sarees that were displayed.
Several success stories: These interactions have led to several success stories. ISBR signed an MOU with Human Resource University of Cambodia on Student Exchanges programs, Collaborative Research, Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Certificates awarded: The women who participated in India from the delegation were given international recognition and felicitated with certificates for the work and the sector that they belong in by the Honorary Consul of Cambodia, President of InCham and Mrs Ratna Prabha, Founder of Ubuntu Consortium. The evening closed with beautiful cultural performances of Cambodia.
Kulen Mountains and a thousand lingas: Day 3- 28 August; The third day began with a visit to the Kulen Mountains and a thousand lingas. They were able to view waterfalls and reclining Buddha. In the evening, the four women organizations from India signed MOUs with organization from Cambodia with the Honorary Consulate of Cambodia and InCham as witnesses. 1. CWEA signed an MOU with Ubuntu Consortium to cooperate towards the advancement of the cause of all women across the two countries.
MoUs: CWEA signed an MOU with ABWCI to collaborate/work together on services related to women entrepreneurship and women?s economic empowerment. CWEA signed an MOU with Rakshak Foundation on friendly Exchange and Cooperation. YEAC signed an MOU with International School of Business & Research(ISBR) on collaborative on Student Exchanges programs, Collaborative Research, Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Strengthening relations: The President of CWEA Phnom Penh and YEAC Vice President addressed the gathering sharing insights of the participation of women in the Cambodia in entrepreneurship, the sectors they are involved and how women of Cambodia and India can strengthen relations.
Why Women?s delegation? The evening concluded with ?Stars of the Evening?- a program of 5min stage space being given to some women to share their journey and inspire the other women in the audience. Why Women?s Delegation? In India, in spite of the positions held by women, there is ?Less visibility? of women in leadership positions in public administration and enterprises. Women comprise only 13.76 percent of the total entrepreneurs in India according to the Ministry of Statistics?
?61 per cent women! In contrast, according to Khmer Times, 61 percent of Cambodia’s business people are women. It is a success story for even a matrilineal society. Women had made up 21 percent of the National Assembly and 16 percent of the Senate. The proportion of women in the civil service increased to 41 per cent in 2021, up from 38 per cent in 2014. Hence, the women of India can benefit from such a delegation, where they get an opportunity to learn from the success stories of Cambodian women Pinnacle Business Excellence Awards 2023.
Second delegation: The Women’s delegation is the second delegation organized by the Honorary Consulate of Cambodia. From 5-7 April 2023, the Honorary Consulate took a delegation of 38 Indian Entrepreneurs for the Pinnacle Business Excellence Awards to Phnom Penh.
Secretaries, Companies: During this Delegation, Minister of Cambodia and Secretaries and Under Secretaries of States, Companies like Royal Group, World Bridge. Government Ministries like Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC) were present.
A variety of participants: Multiple International Chambers of Commerce and Associations attended the event like the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC), IBC, American Chamber of Commerce, Indian Chamber of Cambodia (InCham), CWEA, FASMEC, YEAC, and CATA.
Investment opportunities: There was representation from the Indian Embassy in Cambodia. During the day, the delegation attended sessions by the stalwarts like the Advisor to the Government of Cambodia like Sok Siphana discussing the investment environment and opportunities in Cambodia.
Successful B2B meetings: The successful B2B meetings were followed up with felicitation by the Ministers from Cambodia. Two Expression of Interest (EOI) was shared between VAPS and Ministry of Education and Electronic Payment Systems(EPS) with the National Bank of Cambodia.
